Commercial Retail Property Transactions Slump

The sale of shopping centres continued to fall in June. The Data App (TDA) estimate shopping centre sales across Australia declined by 60% in value terms in the three months to end of June, to a mere $212.3m. This compares to $531.5m in the same period a year earlier.  As a consequence the value of shopping centres transacted, in trend terms, is at its lowest level for eight years.

The number of shopping centres transacted is also down to a trickle, averaging just five in the three months to June, which is 65% less than a year ago.

With no large shopping centres changing hands, the volume of space (GLA) transacted is also a fraction of what it was a year ago. In the three months to June, with some shops temporarily or permanently closing, making valuations impossible in many cases, the volume of retail space transacted proved to be the lowest level for eight years.

With some shops now starting to reopened and indications of footfall improving, the collapse in transactions should at least start to ease.